Melbury Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that:
  • teachers consistently set work that is well matched to the needs of the most able pupils so that a greater proportion attain at greater depth and at the higher standard at the end of key stages 1 and 2
  • teaching assistants are consistently used well, particularly when the teacher is teaching the whole class
  • pupils’ handwriting skills are progressively developed as they move through the school.
• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • the curriculum is consistently modified to meet the learning needs of the most able pupils
  • leaders, in monitoring activities, focus on the attainment and progress of different groups of learners, particularly the most able.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the previous inspection, aspects of the school’s work have improved. The headteacher and senior leadership team have worked strenuously to revitalise and improve the quality of education provided for pupils. Subject leadership is improving. Newly appointed subject leaders are developing their skills and middle leaders are taking on increasing responsibility for their subjects.
• Leaders and governors have established a culture of high expectations for pupils, especially in their personal development and behaviour. Pupils respond well to these high expectations and consistently demonstrate very positive attitudes to learning and to the school.
• Leaders’ plans for improvement are well thought-out and concentrate on key aspects. The positive impact of their actions can be seen in the improved quality of teaching and pupils’ attainment, particularly at the end of key stage 2.
• The school monitors the progress of each individual pupil carefully and accurately. Leaders meet with individual teachers each term to discuss the attainment and progress of pupils who are at risk of falling behind or who find learning difficult. Any necessary support is provided to help these pupils achieve well over the next term. On occasions, the most able pupils are not given enough priority in these meetings.
• There are strong procedures to help teachers assess pupils’ work reliably and accurately by comparing their assessments with those of other teachers in the school and in other schools. This helps to ensure that the school’s assessment records are accurate.
• Leaders provide good-quality coaching for staff within the school and through the school’s involvement with the Nottingham Schools Trust. Staff morale is high. Staff say that they are helped to improve the quality of their work. All 24 staff who responded to the inspection staff survey indicated that they were well supported and enjoyed working at the school. Many parents who spoke to inspectors commented on how helpful and supportive the staff of the school were.
• The school’s curriculum to support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very effective. The school’s ethos is based on providing strong support for pupils’ personal development. Consequently, pupils behave well, enjoy school, act safely and show respect for the safety of others. Relationships throughout the school are very good.
• The school’s curriculum places strong emphasis on the development of reading as pupils move through the school. Phonics is taught effectively in the early years and in key stage 1. Pupils apply their phonics skills to help them read and spell unfamiliar words. Throughout the school, good-quality daily guided reading lessons help pupils progress well in reading. Those who are below expected standards in their reading are given regular additional help with their reading, often provided by well-trained teaching assistants. Rewards are given for regular reading and many pupils are keen to reach their target of reading 50 books by the end of the year. There is a well-organised home reading programme and many parents make a helpful contribution to their children’s good progress in reading.
• In writing, pupils are taught to apply their developing phonics knowledge to help them spell well. The school lacks a consistently applied strategy to progressively develop pupils’ handwriting skills. Consequently, pupils do not make as much progress as they should in their handwriting and some elementary errors persist as late as in Year 6.
• The curriculum for mathematics has been reviewed and improved this year. Leaders are responding to weaknesses they have identified in provision and outcomes in mathematics. Standards in mathematics are improving.
• The curriculum is modified well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It also meets the needs of those at early stages of learning English. Those who struggle with their reading and writing, including disadvantaged pupils, are given regular additional help. The most able pupils are well provided for in some year groups, particularly in Year 6. However, this is not the case in all year groups and the curriculum is sometimes not sufficiently modified to meet the needs of the most able pupils fully.
• Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used appropriately, mainly to provide regular additional support for pupils who are falling behind. In key stage 1, although disadvantaged pupils are not attaining nationally expected standards for all pupils, they are making good progress and attaining as well as other pupils in the school.
• Additional funding for pupils with SEND is used well and these pupils make good progress in their personal and academic development as they move through the school.
• The additional funding for physical education (PE) and sport is used effectively. Pupils receive a good range of opportunities to improve their health, well-being and physical fitness through the activities on offer. Pupils take pride in their great success in competitive sports, particularly in football.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective and makes a good contribution to improving the school. Governors have an accurate overview of the strengths and weaknesses in the school. They regularly receive a range of good-quality information on the school and pupils’ attainment and progress. This enables them to challenge leaders and hold them to account for the school’s performance.
• The governors keep a good check on their own effectiveness. Governor training is effective. In the light of recent changes in membership of the governing body, governors are intending to undertake an audit and review of their own work.
• The governing body monitors the use and impact of additional funds such as the pupil premium, additional sports funding and funding for pupils with SEND closely to make sure it is helping to improve pupils’ progress.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Parents, staff and pupils agree that the school is safe. In discussions with inspectors, pupils confirmed that they trust staff to keep them secure and to deal with any incidents that arise.
• Leaders, including governors, have successfully established a culture of safeguarding throughout the school so that all understand their roles in keeping pupils safe during their education. The local authority provides a good-quality check on the school’s procedures for safety. Governors are appropriately trained and administrative staff carry out their roles for these procedures effectively.
• Training in safeguarding is up to date for staff and governors.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• In all year groups, teachers and teaching assistants ensure that pupils adopt positive attitudes to learning and to school. Consequently, lessons are stress free. Pupils respond calmly and sensibly to teachers’ instructions and make good use of their time in lessons. These positive aspects help pupils progress well in their learning.
• In a range of subjects, teachers and teaching assistants demonstrate good subject knowledge that enables them to question pupils effectively to deepen their knowledge and understanding and to stimulate their thinking. Pupils’ reasoning skills in mathematics, particularly in key stage 2, are improving as a result of recent revisions that leaders have introduced to the mathematics curriculum and teaching.
• Pupils’ work is assessed carefully in lessons and work is set that meets the needs of most groups of pupils well. In some classes, teaching is sometimes not hard enough for the most able pupils.
• The teaching of reading has been reviewed and improved over the last year or so and standards in reading are improving. The best improvement is in the attainment of pupils who have fallen behind the expected standard, for example in their phonics and reading. They are given regular good-quality additional support, and this is having a good effect on their reading development. Younger pupils are taught phonics well. Throughout the school, regular good-quality extended guided reading lessons help pupils make good progress over time in their reading.
• The use of teaching assistants and the impact they have on pupils’ learning is variable. They have a consistently positive impact when they are effectively deployed teaching small groups, for example in some guided reading sessions. When working in classes, they often have a positive impact on the progress of lower-attaining pupils and those with SEND. On occasions in classes, when the teacher is working with the full class, they are not fully deployed.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils show a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe and they consistently act with respect for the safety of others. Pupils say that bullying is almost non-existent in their school and any incidents that could be called bullying are quickly nipped in the bud by adults. They trust the adults in the school to look after them well.
• Pupils are proud of their school. They are polite and sociable with visitors and respond to questions in a grown-up fashion.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well provided for. Older pupils enjoy taking responsibility, for example as ‘eco warriors’ or as school councillors. Relationships throughout the school are a strength, reflecting pupils’ particularly strong social development.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ behaviour around school, at breakfast club, on the playground, in the dining hall and in assembly is calm and friendly. They show respect for one another and for adults.
• All staff expect pupils to work hard in class and to concentrate. Throughout the school, but especially in Year 6, pupils are keen learners and work in lessons in a mature way and take learning seriously. The school’s curriculum contributes to pupils developing particularly strong attitudes to reading and to books.
• Leaders have built up rates of attendance well since the previous inspection and rates of attendance are now typically at least in line with national averages and sometimes above.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ progress and attainment in mathematics, reading and writing by the end of key stage 2 are improving. Pupils make the best progress in reading due to the strong emphasis placed in the school’s curriculum on the development of reading. Pupils’ work and the school’s accurate assessment records indicate that pupils in Year 6 are attaining higher standards than were attained by last year’s Year 6 pupils in English and mathematics.
• The school’s latest assessment information and pupils’ work in their books indicate that pupils are making better progress than last year in almost all year groups in both key stages 1 and 2.
• Attainment at greater depth in key stage 1 and at the higher standard in key stage 2 is better this year than previously, but not as good as it should be.
• The best progress is made by pupils who find learning difficult, including pupils with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and those at the early stages of learning English. This is because these pupils, throughout the school, are given frequent good-quality additional support with their learning. The group of pupils that does not progress as well as they might in some year groups are the most able pupils, because sometimes they are insufficiently challenged.
• Although there was a dip in results in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 in 2018, due to effective teaching of phonics in the early years and key stage 1, standards in phonics are in line with the expected standard this year.
• The lack of an agreed, effective approach to teaching handwriting limits pupils’ progress in handwriting as they move through the school.

Early years provision Good

• Leadership and management in the early years are good. Leaders have an accurate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses in provision. They ensure that safeguarding arrangements in the early years are fully effective and that children are kept safe and are well cared for. Parents regard provision in the early years highly.
• In both the Nursery and Reception classes, all groups of children, including those with SEND, progress well from their varied starting points. Effective induction arrangements, including home visits, help children make a sure and confident start to their school life. Disadvantaged children are given additional support and, this year, a greater proportion of disadvantaged children are on track to attain standards typical for their age by the end of Reception.
• Reading holds a prominent part in the early years curriculum. Early reading is developed effectively. Phonics is taught well and children’s secure phonics skills and enjoyment of books mean that Reception children are well on their way to becoming confident and fluent readers. They are well prepared for Year 1.
• The children enjoy the good range of interesting activities provided both indoors and outside in the early years. Adults expect a lot of how the children behave and they enjoy rising to this challenge. They behave well, listen carefully to adults and are keen to follow instructions and routines. They develop positive attitudes to learning from the start and throughout Nursery and Reception.
• Children are taught well throughout the early years. Staff are knowledgeable about how children learn. Regular assessments are used to fine-tune teaching and questioning to meet the needs of all groups of learners.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 122426 Nottingham 10086730 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 228 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Miles Williams Judith Kemplay 01159 155787 www.melburyprimary.co.uk headteacher@melbury.nottingham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 3 November 2015

Information about this school

• Melbury Primary School is an average-sized primary school.
• There are six classes in the school plus the early years areas. Pupils are taught in single-age classes. In Year 6, in the mornings, the class is divided into two and they learn English and mathematics in smaller groups.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is broadly in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average and the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is average.
• The school is part of the Nottingham Schools Trust.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all classes, sometimes jointly with the headteacher.
• Inspectors looked at work across an extensive range of pupils’ books and considered the school’s assessment information on the progress and standards achieved by current pupils.
• Pupils were heard reading and were spoken to about their reading.
• An inspector met with a group of pupils from key stage 2 and spoke with pupils informally in lessons and around school.
• A school assembly was observed.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, the early years leader and the teacher who has responsibility for pupils with SEND. Inspectors met the senior leaders with responsibility for mathematics and English and also the subject leaders for science and physical education. Inspectors also spoke with teachers and support staff.
• A meeting was held with three governors, including the chair of the governing body.
• The lead inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority by telephone.
• Brief individual discussions were held with 51 parents of 85 pupils at the start of the second day of the inspection. There were too few responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, to yield any information. The 24 responses to the optional staff survey were also considered.
• The inspectors considered a wide range of documentation, including the school’s improvement plan and self-evaluation summary, minutes of meetings of the governing body, the school’s current information on pupils’ attainment and progress, attendance information, external reports on the work of the school, monitoring and evaluation records and a range of documents relating to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Roger Sadler, lead inspector Jane Moore

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector